Stream capture
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Stream capture is a geological or hydrological phenomenon which occurs when a stream from a neighboring drainage system erodes through the divide between two streams and "captures" another stream which then is diverted from its former bed and now flows down the bed of the capturing stream. This can occur through headward erosion of one stream valley into another or through lateral erosion of meanders through the sediments between parallel streams.
One instance of a stream capture is the capture of the Rio Grande which before capture flowed into a closed basin, Lake Cabeza de Baca, but after capture flowed into the Gulf of Mexico.
Within an area of karst topography streams may sink or flow underground (sinking or losing streams) and reappear in a nearby stream valley. An example of this karst stream capturing currently developing in Germany is the Donauversickerung, where a big portion of the upper parts of the Danube river sink into the limestone bedrock, and resurface in the Aachtopf spring, a tributary to the Rhine river.
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